Beallsville stops Dons

January 9, 2013

WEIRTON - When the Beallsville basketball team needed a little something special inside the Dube Dome Tuesday, it went to Jarrett (Teryn Jarrett that is).

The 6-2 senior guard knocked down 28 points and joined his Blue Devil mates in putting on a free throw shooting clinic as Casey Tolzda's club clipped Madonna, 64-54.

With its third straight victory, Beallsville improves to 5-5 on the season. The Blue Dons, meanwhile, fall to 2-5.

Article Photos

IN THE LANE — Weirton Madonna’s Josh Martin goes up for two points during the Blue Dons’ 64-54 loss to Beallsville Tuesday in the Dube Dome.-- Mike Mathison

"He's a four-year starter for us and he's going to be a 1,000 point scorer," Tolzda said of Jarrett. "He's averaging 20 a game and he has to control the game in order for us to win. We expect that out of him. If we don't have that, honestly, we are in trouble."

In compiling his game-high point total, Jarrett swished five triples (several coming from NBA distance) and made good on seven of eight attempts from the line.

As a team, the Blue Devils nailed 21 of 26 tries from the stripe, hitting their first 16. Madonna, on the other hand, attempted 24 free tosses, but canned just 10.

Two Dalton Secrest free throws gave the visitors an 18-15 lead after the first period. A couple of Jarrett triples and three buckets in the paint by hard-working Kyle Groves accounted for 12 of the Beallsville points.

The Blue Dons battled back and grabbed a 29-28 advantage late in the second frame thanks to Levi Shreve's three-pointer and a Will Bowser free toss. Jarrett then went on a tear, scoring seven straight to give the Blue Devils a 35-29 advantage at the break.

"We go up one, then we have a couple of defensive breakdowns and they hit a couple of shots," said Madonna's Mike Haag, who was filling in for George Vargo. "We went in down six and just couldn't seem to recover."

Beallsville was a perfect 10 for 10 from the line during the opening 16 minutes.

One of Jarrett's long-range treys sparked a 9-0 third quarter run by the Blue Devils, giving them a 51-40 lead heading into the final quarter.

"This was a real nice win for our kids," Tolzda added. "We started off 2-5 and it's our third win in a row and only our second on the road. We thought it was going to be a good test and it was.

"We played with virtually five guys (one regular starter was out with an illness). We had a freshman, Chase Mercer, step in and I'm real proud of him. Give Madonna credit, they made a run but our kids persevered."

Groves and Secrest both scored 12 points for the Blue Devils while Mercer finished with eight. Groves recorded a double-double by hauling down 11 of his team's 22 rebounds.

"Kyle's a hard worker," Tolzda pointed out. "He's not the most skilled player or the most physical. But, he's strong and fights for the ball. He never quits and I'll take him on my team any day."

Madonna actually had one more field goal (20 versus 19) than the Blue Devils. The Dons, unfortunately, also had more turnovers (24 compared to 20).

"We just fouled too much," Haag added. "They were 21 of 26 and we were 10 for 24. The difference in the game was they knocked down foul shots and we didn't.

"And we turned the ball over way too much. We'd make a little run, then turn it over."

Junior Nate Guio recorded a double-double for Madonna, scoring 17 points and snaring 10 rebounds (the Blue Dons had 29 as a team). Sophomore James Carnes added 11 and junior Will Bowser nine.

"They all fought tonight," Haag said of his Blue Dons. "It wasn't about their effort because the effort was there. We got to the foul line 24 times, the most this year. We kept clawing back. We just have to keep building and keep learning."